Statement made on 15 December 2010 by Senator Maria Chaput
Hon. Maria Chaput:
Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate.
Madam Leader, on Wednesday, December 1, I asked you a number of questions about the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto and the agreement between the organizing committee and the federal government.
I shared with her my concerns about the contribution agreement and language clauses to delineate the obligation to ensure true equality of both official languages at the 2015 Pan American Games.
Yesterday, the Commissioner of Official Languages, Graham Fraser, tabled his final report on the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. He said:
. . . official language requirements must be specific and clear to ensure that organizing committees grasp the importance of linguistic duality, understand their official languages obligations and plan adequately.
The Commissioner will publish a guide based on the lessons learned at the 2010 Vancouver Games.
Could the leader indicate to the Minister of Canadian Heritage that it would be a good idea for this guide to be read carefully and used by the funded organizations so that they may plan accordingly? Does the leader not believe that we should ensure that the funding granted by the federal government for equality of both official languages during the 2015 Pan American Games is truly spent on achieving that equality?
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